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Welcome to my blog. I hope you find plenty of inspiration here. Nothing too fancy, no great skills required, just lots of cards, gifts and perhaps the odd bit of shopping.

My blog contains lots of links to freebies. Without sounding like "mother" can I ask you to leave a kind comment to the generous givers of such fabulous artwork. I know of at least a couple of artists who are feeling a bit unloved at the moment. Thanks. X

Wednesday, 29 June 2011

I've been a busy little bee today. I've been into town to get some bits and pieces this morning. I got some little hand creams from M&S for mums gift bag and made her a necklace to but in her little box. I've just got to wrap her main pressies to take to her tomorrow. It's Speedy's birthday on sunday so I've made him a little gift bag and matching card while i'm on my day off.

There's more info about this bag on an earlier post HERE, and instructions at Splitcoast Stampers HERE.After making a few of these bags i found that making the first 2 folds half an inch instead of an inch made them a little bit taller and made all the difference when finding things to put inside as they have to be fairly flat

You can just about see the side view of the bag here but my 2 links will show you better. The little boat is a Meljens digi image.

Here's the matching card which is 6"x6". The paper is from DCWV stack six 12 x 12 papers. The " AHOY" is also by Meljen's.

And here's the set together. As you can see by the pic, the bag is about 5" square. Things I've got for the bag so far are, a Thorntons 4"x4" bar of chocolate with ginger, a Cadbury's kids size bar of dairy milk ( the flat one) , a Caramac, some wrigleys chewing gum and a small 2" square Thorntons trial size white chocolate. I'm going to get a Scratch card and a lottery ticket as well. Big kid he is, lol.

Sunday, 26 June 2011

Well i was going to moan about the weather on my post today but while i was faffing around trying to get some decent pics of today's creations the sun managed to come out. How long for, i don't know but it's certainly not the heatwave stuff. The funniest thing is that on the news yesterday morning they gave out a heatwave helpline number. It was quite chilly and I envisaged loads of workers falling asleep waiting for someone to ring up and say "I'm hot, what shall i do?", lol. Anyway here's a little bag and box i made to go with mums birthday pressies.

There are details of how to make the bag on a previous post HERE,and more info on the little box HERE.
All they took was one 12 x12 piece of K & CO. paper and a piece of A4 card.

I used a 2" circle punch and cut the circles in half for the corners and my little eyelet tool came out for an airing.

I got the little heart embellishment from The Works, £1 for six. The bag and box are not as big as they look in the pics, the bag is 4" tall ) so it will be a bit of a challenge finding something to put in them. Perhaps a trip to Thorntons and a mooch around Crabtree and Evelyn's trial sizes tomorrow.

Edit, to anyone who's looking at that bag and thinking " if only", please have a go, it's so very easy.

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

What a card making frenzy I've had today! A friend of mine (male of course ) rang me in work yesterday and requested 7 personalised cards. Yes great that's £14 in the stash fund. When does he want them for? Friday morning !! Bear in mind not much housework got done last week with the hospital fiasco and i need to make 6 cards for my own use before next weekend. I was going to nip out and get some birthday pressies for my mum today but i made myself do these 7 cards instead. I haven't photographed them all yet but i also got my mum s done too.

The digi image is from HERE and the papers are Papermania Creative Tones. There is a link in my side bar to the little digi flowers and the cake sentiment is by TLC Creations. The card base is 6" x6".

Sunday, 19 June 2011

Good afternoon all. I don't know what it's like near you but it's a very unsettled day weather wise here in Chester. We are going out for a bit of a walk soon and i'll definitely be taking my brolly.

These two quick cards are made using images and captions from TLC Creations. I spent an odd hour here and there going through the whole blog . Usually i copy and paste the blog page in the "add a caption" bit in Picasa but on this particular session i forgot to do it so apologies for no links but i will one day go back and search for them.

The papers are again from my scrap box which is looking a lot less full than it was. I'll be joining in with the fun " sunday snippets" challenge at Jules' "Always with a Heart" blog which is a great way of encouraging each other to use those scraps.

Speedy is feeling better than he has done in ages, in fact he's a bit too frisky for my liking, lol. He's still in need of a new kidney though and there are a couple of us due to be tested for a match. Hopefully we'll be able to get it sorted soon so he can bypass any need for dialysis as he's not quite at that stage yet.

Friday, 17 June 2011

Just a quickie to say Speedy's home and well. They told me at midday yesterday he was being discharged so i had to get the next train as i didn't want him coming home on his own. We got home at about 5pm. He's wired up to a portable heart monitor. He's got to go about his life as usual, then go back with it on Monday so they can see how his heart has coped. His heartbeat is back to normal. It was the beta blockers which were a too high dose.

Thank you for all your well wishes and here's one i made earlier. Image is a freebie fromMeljens Designs.

Target weight 9st 2lb. Today, 9st 1lb. I'll have to run around Liverpool more often, lol.

Wednesday, 15 June 2011

...........and so very tired. What a couple of days!! I went with Speedy to one of his hospital appointments in Liverpool yesterday morning and while we were there he came over all queer, sweating and feeling faint etc. He hates hospitals, but when his hands stated turning white there was a bit of a panic as it was obviously more than nerves. They took his blood pressure and pulse and both were dangerously low so they gave him oxygen and took him to A&E. He spent all day wired up to a monitor having ecg's and blood tests and they finally decided to keep him in. Luckily we'd gone by train and i finally got home at 9pm. I went back again today as they are keeping him in again tonight. I've just got home. Seems that one of his blood pressure tablets were too high and they are trying him on a lower dose. I'm glad we were there at the time as it could have happened anywhere and he probably would have ignored it, as a lot of us would,lol. I'll have to see what tomorrow brings but in the meantime here's a card.

I made it for my sister who's just got herself a puppy who looks just like the one on the card. This image was fromKids n Fun Colouring pages .Isn't he cute. When she went to pick him up she said he's going straight in the sink when i get him home so i added the caption.

The paper is by Brenda Pinnick and there's a link to the digi buttons stamp in my sidebar at the top.

Sunday, 12 June 2011

When i was sorting through my craft stuff i found a pack of Gorjuss card toppers. I bought them when i hadn't been making cards for long, just before i turned into a stamping snob. I decided to overcome my snobbery as i need to have loads of cheapie cards ready for if and when this weekly table top sale starts. It's being organised by men so it could be years yet,lol.

I've been trying to make these cards from scraps and stuff I'd normally either leave in the drawer or throw away. That way i won't be gutted if they don't sell.

They can then be given away at no great loss.

The deckle edged cards are from Hobbycraft and are c6 size.

The toppers were also from Hobbycraft and were under a fiver. There's enough left for at least 10 more cards.

Of course I intend to do some "posh" cards too just in case people want to shove their hands a bit deeper into their pockets.
As a bit of encouragement I will be joining in with Jules's Sunday snippets challenges at her"Always with a heart" blog. It's a fun challenge with no prizes except the satisfaction of seeing your scrap pile go down a bit.

Friday, 10 June 2011

.....No, not me, lol. A friend of mine asked me to make a card for someone who is a qualified midwife but has just started a new job as a doctor at an anti natal clinic. Much cleaner I'd have thought. He suggested a stork with a baby so i had a Meljen moment.

The main background paper is K&Co and the spotty one is My Mind's Eye. The good luck was added before printing out and the "you go girl " is from TLC. I bought a license from Paulette to be able to sell cards with her sentiments. It;s all too easy to "sneak sell", but i wouldn't feel right in this case. Paulette uploads every day, sometimes more then once and does fabulous sentiments for free. She also has a shop with digis for sale but up to now all I've done is to snag the freebies with the odd thank you, so i thought a licence purchase was in order and well worth the tenner. I've got £2 back already with this card ( no fancy colouring on these £2 jobs) and I've made loads more this week. The right words make such a difference.

Wednesday, 8 June 2011

I nearly forgot my poor old blog today! I've been shopping for jeans.......enough said ,lol. Needless to say i haven't got any yet. It takes at least 3 trips to find a pair that fits properly. I'm petite with quite a boyish figure so i would probably be better off in a mans shop. The last ones i had were from Next but I don't like the styles they have in at the moment. They look worn out before you've even worn them. Call me old fashioned but i like my new jeans to look at least quite new, not old and battered. I may as well stick with the ones I've got.
In the meantime here's a card.

I made one similar to this for my sister in law a while ago and she asked me to make one for her friend. The caption is from Ginger's House and the stamp, ( yes i used an actual wooden stamp) is a Dolly Mamma by Stamps Happen. I'm still trying to use up scraps of unidentified papers. My mountain has gone down quite a bit. I may even allow myself to cut into a new 12 x 12 tomorrow,lol.

Monday, 6 June 2011

Woo hoo. Just purchased a licence fromTLC. I've been dithering for a few weeks but there's no question as to whether a sentiment or caption sells a card no matter how much work has gone into the decoration. I can now flaunt my ideas and my intention (dreams) to sell my finished cards, and all for less than a tenner. Thanks TLC. XX

Sunday, 5 June 2011

Just like the weather, lol. Here's a few quick simple cards. I've made loads this week, all quickies. I need to check angel policies before i decide which ones i can sell. I know a couple of sentiment sites including Gingers House are for personal use only so they can go into my Christmas gift sets.

The sentiment on the left is from TLC and the one on the right is from Ginger's House.

The turtle is also by TLC and the little girl is from Crafty Sentiments.

The deckle edged cards are from Hobbycraft and make the cards look a little less plain. The papers were from my odds and ends and were 2 6 x 6 sheets of double sided but i don't know what make. I've got so many bits of rogue unidentified paper and i need to use them up. I need to join Jules's sunday snippet challenge, a great inspiration and a big shove,lol.

Time for something to eat now. I'm going into town later for a bit or retail therapy and then out for a bar snack later as my kitchen is CLOSED after 2pm on sundays............

Friday, 3 June 2011

I don't know about you but Friday always seems to come around quickly. That's alright though because i get paid on Fridays. Weekly, old fashioned in the little packet,lol. So easy to manage your money when you get paid this way.
Yesterday i had such a card making frenzy it was unbelievable. Speedy has a little pint at the local catholic club on the way home from work (cheap ale ), and they are planning to start a weekly indoor "local produce" market in the next few weeks. They said i could have a table for my cards so i need to get my act together. If they don't sell at least I'll have all my cards sets to give as Christmas gifts made nice and early. It's supposed to be on Thursdays which is my day off. I just hope some big git doesn't change the day or i'm stumped. I'm determined that these cards are all going to be made from stuff i would normally chuck in my scrap box and be dead simple to make and will be posting here regularly.
Meanwhile here's some notebooks I've altered. I found them when scratting around for bits & bobs.

The digi image is from Meljens and i added the "NOTES" in Back to School font. I added a panel of paper on the back to match the front, mainly as i couldn't get the label off,lol.

The coloured books were from Woolies and the black and grey from Wilkinsons all 50p each.

Wednesday, 1 June 2011

Bit of a rush jobbie these as i've been out most of the day but i needed some mens cards to take to work.

The stamp is by Inkadinkado and is great for quickies as there's not a lot of detail to colour. The papers are scraps left over from some i won a few weeks ago so i don't know their origin. The card bases are 5" x 5", and are on offer at £4.99 for 50 at Hobbycraft at the moment. Quite good quality too although they don't look very white in the pic.
I need to go and do my kitchen goddess thing now before a very hungry Speedy gets home,lol. I'll have to conjure something oriental up out of the Chinese pork i found in the freezer and the mushrooms and spring onions from the fridge. Bless him, he doesn't notice when I've been shirking my duties!

S4H License for TLC Designs

Meljens digi flowers

Please don't think me awful but these are so time consuming.

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About Me

I am fifty something with no kids, cats or dogs to take up my crafting time. I have a lovely hubby(Speedy) who doesnt care what i've been doing all day as long as he's fed and watered every night.I work part time in a famous "Olde Sweet Shoppe" and have access to loads of sweets and chocs for my gift making.I am also a complete technophobe!
Can i just add that although I'm happy for any body to use my creations as inspiration ,could anyone who makes something which has an uncanny resemblance to something I have made put a link to me on their blog/website as I have and will endeavour to do.Thank you.